A new look for the law of contempt in New Zealand?

Introduction

In New Zealand , a finding of contempt of court (or the risk thereof) is antithetical to the proper administration of justice.1 In particular, the shadow of contempt helps to uphold the independence, integrity and impartiality of our judiciary in order to maintain and safeguard our constitutional democracy. Ultimately, this ensures individuals and entities benefit from a fair, expeditious and effective justice system.

Currently, the law of contempt of court is a collection of both common law and statutory provisions that have been said to be lacking in accessibility, understanding and workability in today's modernised world. It is on this basis that the Law Commission was asked to "review the law [of contempt] to consider whether it should be modernised and brought into one new, easily accessible and understandable Act of Parliament."

On 21 June 2017 the Commission presented its report entitled Reforming the Law of Contempt of Court: A Modern Statute (the Report) to the House of Representatives. The Report recommends a number of sweeping reforms. The Government's preliminary response to the Report was issued on 18 August 2017 (the Response) and agrees in principle with the recommended reforms, albeit with a need for further consideration.

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of the current position on the law of contempt and to summarise the Report's recommendations and the Response in order to comment on the future scope of contempt in New Zealand.

The current position in New Zealand

The law of contempt of court is a little known yet widely applicable area of law that has been defined as "anything which plainly tends to create a disregard of the authority of courts of justice".2 While this article does not intend to traverse the intricacies of the different types of contempt, it is worth providing a synopsis of the broad circumstances where an individual or entity can be held in contempt.

Contempt in the face of the court

Contempt in the face of the court includes disruptive courtroom behaviour (by words or actions) that threatens the orderly and due disposition of court business.3 While relatively mundane and low level, disruptions are not usually amenable to a contempt finding (unless incessant), the court will use contempt to ensure the course of justice is not interrupted or unduly interfered with.

In the decision of Forest v R, a finding of contempt of court for the appellant's intemperate outburst while jury members were delivering their verdicts was appealed.4 It was thought that the nature of the comments and the fact that they were made while members of the jury were in the process of delivering their verdicts "gave rise to a risk of influencing those verdicts".5 Notwithstanding the immediate apology, the outburst was considered to directly interfere in the administration of justice and a discounted sentence of four weeks' imprisonment was imposed.

Contempt outside the court

Contempt outside the court encompasses general...